scholarly journals In Planta Analysis of the Radial Movement of Minerals from Inside to Outside in the Trunks of Standing Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) Trees at the Cellular Level

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Katsushi Kuroda ◽  
Kenichi Yamane ◽  
Yuko Itoh

Although the radial movement of minerals in tree trunks is a widely accepted phenomenon, experimental evidence of their movement in standing trees and underlying mechanisms is very limited. Previously, we clarified that cesium (Cs) artificially injected into the outer part of the sapwood of standing Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) trunks moved to the inner part of the sapwood, including the intermediate wood, via active transport by xylem parenchyma cells and diffusion through cell walls and then moved into the heartwood by diffusion. To understand the mechanism underlying the radial movement of minerals in the standing tree trunk, it is necessary to clarify their movement in the opposite direction. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the radial movement of minerals from inside to outside in the trunks of standing trees at the cellular level. For this, a long hole across the center part of the trunk, which reached the heartwood, intermediate wood, and sapwood, was made in standing Japanese cedar trunks, and a solution of stable isotope Cs was continuously injected into the hole for several days as a tracer. The injected part of the trunk was collected after being freeze-fixed with liquid nitrogen, and the frozen sample was subjected to analysis of Cs distribution at the cellular level using cryo-scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The Cs injected into the inner sapwood or intermediate wood rapidly moved toward the outer sapwood via xylem ray parenchyma cells together with diffusion through the cell walls. In contrast, the Cs injected into the heartwood barely moved to the sapwood, although it reached a part of the inner intermediate wood. These results suggest that minerals in xylem ray parenchyma cells in the sapwood are bidirectionally supplied to each other; however, the minerals accumulated in the heartwood may not be supplied to living cells.

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
Katsushi Kuroda ◽  
Kenichi Yamane ◽  
Yuko Itoh

The radial movement of minerals in tree trunks is a widely accepted function of ray parenchyma cells, but there is little experimental evidence for this. We previously obtained experimental data showing that the parenchyma cells were the site of the radial mineral movement in Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don) trunks in winter. Therefore, the aim of this study was to answer two remaining questions: do parenchyma cells move minerals via active transport or passive diffusion and how do seasonality and the injection duration affect the radial movement of minerals. To analyze this, we compared mineral movement in living standing Japanese cedar trees with heartwood in which the trunk had been left untreated or freeze–thawed with liquid nitrogen to kill the living cells. A solution of a stable isotope of cesium (Cs), as a tracer of mineral movement, was continuously injected into the outer sapwood of these normal and freeze–thaw-treated trees for an objective period, following which the trunk was freeze-fixed with liquid nitrogen. The Cs distribution in frozen samples was then analyzed by cryo-scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. After 1 and 5 days of injection, the Cs detection area was almost the same among parenchyma cells and tracheid cell walls in the freeze–thaw-treated samples (without living cells) but was further toward the inner xylem in the parenchyma cells than the tracheids in the normal samples (with living cells), indicating that living parenchyma cells move Cs. Furthermore, after 5 days of injection, Cs in the tracheid cell walls was detected further toward the inner xylem in the normal samples than in the freeze–thaw-treated samples, indicating that Cs is exuded from the parenchyma cells into the tracheid cell walls. Together, these results suggest that the radial movement of minerals in standing Japanese cedar trees occurs through a combination of active transport by parenchyma cells and diffusion in the cell walls.


Holzforschung ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 339-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Koch ◽  
J. Puls ◽  
J. Bauch

Summary The topochemical distribution of phenolic extractives in steamed and kiln-dried beechwood with discolourations was investigated on a cellular level by using scanning UV microspectrophotometry (UMSP). For the chemical characterisation of accessory compounds, acetone and methanol extracts of the discoloured beechwood were separated by accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) and analysed with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The UV microscopic investigations reveal that the accessory compounds responsible for the discolouration of beechwood are mainly restricted to the longitudinal and ray parenchyma cells and the lumen of vessels. The detected extractives are characterised by high UV absorbance values and an absorbance maximum in a wavelength range between 280 and 290 nm. The separation of the acetone and methanol extracts of discoloured beechwood shows the presence of different low molecular phenols such as catechin and 2,6-dimethoxybenzochinon, which are transformed into high condensation compounds during steaming and kiln-drying.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.C. Yang ◽  
Y.S. Chen ◽  
C.A. Benson

Vertical and radial variations of nuclear elongation index (NEI) of living sapwood ray parenchyrna cells were studied in a 45-year-old plantation tree of Cryptomeria japonica D. Don collected in Taiwan on February 27, 1992. Nine wood strips oriented in an E-W direction of the tree were collected starting at 0.3 m above ground level, and progressing upwards by 2.5 m intervals to the tree crown. Radial sections, 20 µm thick, were cut from the cambium toward the inner sapwood of these nine wood strips. The nuclear elongation index (NEI) was used to express the metabolic activity of the ray cells. It was found that metabolic activity of sapwood ray parenchyma was thc highest at the outer sapwood and declined gradually towards the inner sapwood. The lowest average NEI was found at the lowest stern level. The average NEI of various stern height levels increased with increasing stern height level. The average NEI of three growth rings at the outer sapwood near the cambium reached a maximum at the bottom of the live crown.


IAWA Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jong Sik Kim ◽  
Geoffrey Daniel

Although there is considerable information on anatomy and gross chemistry of oak wood, little is known on the ultrastructure and chemistry at the individual cell wall level. In particular, differences in ultrastructure and chemistry within the same cell type between earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) are poorly understood. This study investigated the ultrastructure and chemistry of (vasicentric) tracheids, vessels, (libriform) fibers and axial/ray parenchyma cells of English oak xylem (Quercus robur L.) using light-, fluorescence- and transmission electron microscopy combined with histo/cytochemistry and immunohisto/ cytochemistry. EW tracheids showed several differences from LW tracheids including thinner cell walls, wider middle lamella cell corner (MLcc) regions and lesser amounts of mannan epitopes. Fibers showed thicker cell walls and higher amounts of mannan epitopes than tracheids. EW vessels were rich in guaiacyl (G) lignin with a characteristic non-layered cell wall organization (absence of S1–3 layers), whereas LW vessels were rich in syringyl (S) lignin with a three layered cell wall structure (S1–3 layers). Formation of a highly lignified and wide protective layer (PL) inside axial/ray parenchyma cells was detected only in EW. Distribution of mannan epitopes varied greatly between cell types and between EW and LW, whereas distribution of xylan epitopes was almost identical in all cell types within a growth ring. Together, this study demonstrates that there are great variations in ultrastructure and chemistry of cell walls within a single growth ring of English oak xylem.


PROTOPLASMA ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 206 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 31-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Fujikawa ◽  
K. Kuroda ◽  
Y. Jitsuyama ◽  
Y. Sano ◽  
J. Ohtani

2014 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Niewęgłowska-Guzik

In areas intensely contaminated with sulphur compounds some pine trees (<i>Pinus sylvestris</i> L.) have deformed branches with numerous short sprouts. In the branches lenticular areas with considerably changed xylem elements are found. In these greatly changed xylem areas (GCXAs) deformed tracheids are almost isodiametric, some form hooks and loops. The tracheids and ray parenchyma cells show a differentiated level of cell walls lignification. A significantly larger number of rays and the so-called pseudorings are observed.


Trees ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Nakaba ◽  
Hikaru Morimoto ◽  
Izumi Arakawa ◽  
Yusuke Yamagishi ◽  
Ryogo Nakada ◽  
...  

IAWA Journal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat Denne ◽  
Siân Turner

Differences between the ray structure of rootwood and stemwood were analysed in 11 species from 5 families of gymnosperms. Rootwood was consistently found to have fewer ray tracheids, with ray parenchyma cells which were taller axially, wider tangentially, but shorter radially, and had more pits per cross-field than stemwood. A scale for quantifying types of cross-field pitting is proposed, and statistically significant differences in type and diameter of cross-field pitting were found between rootwood and stemwood of most species sampled. These structural differences have practical implications for identification of gymnosperm roots, and for distinguishing between rootwood and stemwood.


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